The National Motorsports Press Association award-winning online home of Dave "The Godfather" Moody.

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Stewart Will Face No Charges In Ward's Death

Tony Stewart

Tony Stewart
will not face criminal charges as a result of the death of driver Kevin Ward,
Jr. at Canandaigua (NY) Motorsports Park last month.

Ontario County District
Attorney Michael Tantillo announced today that a Grand Jury has ruled that
Stewart was not at fault when his Sprint Car struck Ward after the 21-year old
driver walked across the racing surface following a crash.

“During the
course of the grand jury presentation, approximately two dozen witnesses
testified,” said Tantillo. “These included a number of race-car drivers, race
track employees and volunteers, two accident re-constructionists, medical
personnel and a number of police officers. The grand jury reviewed a number of
photographs and video recordings, as well as other documentary evidence.

“After
listening to and questioning all the witnesses and reviewing all the
evidence, the grand jury has determined that there is no basis to charge Tony
Stewart (with) any crime.”

Tantillo said
two different videos were analyzed, and that those videos “did not demonstrate any aberrational driving by Stewart
until the point of impact with Ward. Prior to that, (Stewart’s) course was
pretty straight.”

Kevin Ward, Jr.

In addition, toxicology reports showed that Ward was under the influence of
marijuana at the time of his death, with Tantillo saying, “the levels were
enough to impair judgment.” A drug assessment expert spoke to Stewart following
the incident and found “no basis to believe there was alcohol consumption or
impairment by drugs in Stewart’s case.

Tantillo explained
that the grand jury was “not considering whether anybody else was at fault”
other than Stewart. “However,” he said, “I am sure from their deliberations and
discussions that the fact that Kevin Ward was observed running… into a hot
track in the middle of other cars that were still racing, played a big,
big factor in their decision. Judgement was the most important factor
in this case.”

The Grand Jury considered
two possible charges against Stewart; second degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. Only 12 votes
from the 23-member grand jury were needed to indict on either charge.

“It is clear that a number
of witnesses had different perspectives,” said Tantillo. “There were a number
of different versions of what had actually taken place. Several important
witnesses chose not to make statements to police, so the only way I could find
out what they had to say was to subpoena them and compel them to testify, which
I did.”

He said he believed Kevin
Ward, Sr. (father of the deceased) was “probably disappointed with the
outcome.”

Stewart said in
written statement that “This has been the toughest and most emotional
experience of my life, and it will stay with me forever. I’m very grateful for
all the support I’ve received and continue to receive. I respect
everything the District Attorney and Sheriff’s Office did to thoroughly
investigate this tragic accident. While the process was long and emotionally
difficult, it allowed for all the facts of the accident to be identified and
known.

“While much of
the attention has been on me, it’s important to remember a young man lost his
life. Kevin Ward Jr.’s family and friends will always be in my thoughts and
prayers.”

Here's one question that really was never asked and certainly never answered: Would Kevin Ward, Jr. have gotten out of his car if it would have been one of the people he raced against on a regular basis or did he do it just because it was Tony Stewart? We'll never know the answer to that.

It's a shame that he got into his car stoned and then a tragedy that he got out and walked towards MOVING race cars, which led to him paying the ultimate price. None of us who have never lost a child will ever know the pain his family and friends are going through right now and live with the rest of their lives, nor do we know the pain Tony Stewart is going through right now and will live with the rest of his life. I can only hope the pain fades for both the Ward family and Tony Stewart with the passage of time. I highly doubt it will ever go away.